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[Playbill]
Theatre Royal, Portsmouth. September 14–16,
1871. Announcing a performance of Little Nelly.
This “Celebrated Version” of Dickens’s
The Old Curiosity Shop was produced by G.
Murray; after the initial performances in Portsmouth,
Little Nelly opened in London at the Surrey
on November 23, 1872.
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[Postcard]
Micawber. London: G. D. & D., no date [circa early
1900s]. Bransby Williams appears in his role as Wilkins
Micawber in David Copperfield.
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[Sheet
Music] Grant Stewart and Manuel Klein. Boys Will
Be Boys.
New York: M. Witmark & Sons, 1902.
This song is from Mr. Pickwick, A Musical Comedy
in Two Acts. It was produced by the DeWolf Hopper
Opera Co. in 1903.
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Charles Dickens
loved the theater, and the theater loved him. A life-long
passion for the stage drove Dickens to write, produce, direct,
and act in theatricals; to include his children and their
friends in home-theater performances; and to mount benefit
performances in support of worthy causes and indigent friends.
Dickens, a champion of social reform and a harsh critic of
greed and ignorance, used public reading tours to entertain
and spread his message. His passionate performances attracted
thousands of admirers, raised huge sums of money, and delighted
readers and theatergoers across Britain and America.
Charles Dickens and Show Biz opens Monday, October
2, in the Peterson Gallery and Munger Rotunda on the second
floor of the Bing Wing of Green Library. The exhibit is one
of the first to explore the many inventive connections between
Dickens and the entertainment industry, which embraced his
work as a virtually limitless source of theatrical material.
Visitors will see how the performing arts have creatively
interpreted Dickens’s most enduring themes: the misery
of neglected and abused children; the unfairness that creeps
into judicial systems and the cruelty of punishments not suited
to their crimes; the sinister after-effects of prosperity
and rank; and the hope of redemption and spiritual rebirth
for those who come to reform their ways.
Colorful theater
playbills, a dramatic part of the show, feature Dickens as
actor, producer, and stage director. One, with classic Dickensian
humor, advertises two-year-old Edward Dickens’s first
stage appearance (in the Dickens home theater and with other
family members in the cast) as Mr. Plornishmaroontigoonter
in a festive holiday play. Another playbill, foreshadowing
a deep emotional crisis, announces a performance of The
Frozen Deep in Manchester, England. There, Dickens performed
with the young actress Ellen Ternan. The relationship between
the two, begun in 1857 when Dickens was forty-five and Ternan
was eighteen, developed into a notorious liaison that led
to the tragic breakup of Dickens’s marriage, and an
outpouring of nasty publicity.
Theater and film
fans will enjoy diverse and colorful movie memorabilia, advertising
(in Dickensian roles) some of entertainment’s greatest
Hollywood and Broadway stars: W. C. Fields, Lon Chaney, George
C. Scott, Sally Field, Patrick Stewart, Alfre Woodard, and
Mickey Mouse. Comic strip enthusiasts will see early appearances,
in comic form, of Dickens characters from Oliver Twist.
Music lovers will find examples of sheet music inspired by
Dickens stories and characters, and several 33rpm audio recordings
that derive from Dickens.
The exhibit contains
rare first and early editions of dramatic works by Dickens
and his contemporaries, and original letters written by friends
and associates who had a hand in shaping Dickens’s theatrical
career.
In conjunction
with the exhibit, the Stanford University Libraries announces
the publication of the exhibition catalogue, Charles Dickens
and Show Biz. The catalogue includes the full exhibition
text and is generously illustrated, with some images in color.
The per-copy cost is $23.00 plus tax and shipping. To purchase
by mail: print, fill out, and send the order form located
at http://www-sul.stanford.edu/depts/spc/pubs/orderform_new.html,
along with your check or money order. Inquiries: speccollpubs@stanford.edu.
All proceeds from sales benefit Stanford University Libraries
Special Collections.
Charles Dickens
and Show Biz, which is free and open to the public, will
be on display from October 2, 2006 through January 28, 2007.
VIRTUAL EXHIBITION:
www.dickensandshowbiz.com
PLEASE NOTE: For
further information about the exhibition, please contact Becky
Fischbach at 650-725-1020 or via e-mail at efischba@stanford.edu
LOCATION: Peterson
Gallery, Green Library Bing Wing, Second Floor Stanford University,
Stanford, CA
NOTE: first-time
visitors must register at the east entrance portal to gain
access to the library. Green Library's east wing entrance
faces Meyer Library. For a map of campus and transportation
information, go to http://www.stanford.edu/home/visitors/maps.html
HOURS: Exhibit
cases are illuminated Monday-Friday from 10 am to 6 pm; Saturday
from 10 am to 5 pm, and Sunday 1 to 6 pm. The gallery is accessible
whenever Green Library is open and hours vary with the academic
schedule. For library hours, call 650-723-0931.
Images available
upon request.
